“Verteporfin exhibits anti-proliferative activity in embryonal and alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma cell lines”

Publication date: Available online 6 September 2019Source: Chemico-Biological InteractionsAuthor(s): Luca Sanna, Roberta Piredda, Irene Marchesi, Valentina Bordoni, Forcales Sonia Vanina, F. Calvisi Diego, Luigi BagellaAbstractRhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a pediatric tumor, which arises from muscle precursor cells. Recently, it has been demonstrated that Hippo Pathway (Hpo), a pathway that regulates several physiological and biological features, is involved in RMS tumorigenesis. For instance, an upregulation of the Hpo downstream effector Yes-Associated Protein 1 (YAP) leads to the development of embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (eRMS) in murine activated muscle satellite cells. On the other hand, the YAP paralog transcriptional co-activator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) is overexpressed in alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (aRMS) patients with poor survival.YAP and TAZ exhibit both cytoplasmic and nuclear functions. In the nucleus, YAP binds TEADs (TEA domain family members) factors and together they constitute a complex that is able either to activate the transcription of several genes such as MYC, Tbx5 and PAX8 or to maintain the stability of others like p73. Due to the key role of YAP and TAZ in cancer, the identification and/or development of new compounds able to block their activity might be an effective antineoplastic strategy. Verteporfin (VP) is a molecule able to stop the formation of YAP/TEAD complex in the nucleus.The aim of this study is to evaluate the action of VP on RMS cell l...
Source: Chemico Biological Interactions - Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research